Q. Which of the following recent examples would be deemed an amendment under Article 368 of the Constitution?
Exp) Option c is the correct answer.
Statement a is incorrect: Article 370(3) states the President has the power to repeal the Article 370 in its entirety with a Presidential Order passed on recommendation of J&K Constituent Assembly (amended to Legislative Assembly). On August 5, 2019, the president of India issued the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019, pursuant to article 370(1) of the Constitution of India. The order effectively abrogates the special status accorded to Jammu and Kashmir. Through this order, Government of India has made modifications in Article 370 itself (not revoked it).
Statement b is incorrect: The strength of the Supreme Court was initially provided in the Constitution as 8 (1 CJI + 7 Puisne judges). In 2019, the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, amended the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Act, 1956. The Bill increased this number from 30 to 33. Thus changing the number of puisne judges in the SC doesn’t require an amendment under Article 368 of Constitution.
Statement c is correct: The 102nd Constitutional Amendment Act, 2018 gave constitutional status to the National Commission of Backward Classes. All amendments to Constitutional Bodies require a special majority for amendment and are deemed amendments under Article 368 of the Constitution.
Statement d is incorrect: Issues concerning acquisition and termination of Citizenship can be ratified by a simple majority of the Parliament. Articles 5-11 deal with citizenship. The constitution empowers the Parliament to frame laws for further dealing with citizenship issues, pursuant to which the Citizenship Act, 1955 was framed. The original Citizenship Act allows a person to apply for citizenship by naturalization, if the person has resided in India, or been in central government service for the last 12 months, and at least for 11 years of the preceding 14 years. The act passed by Lok Sabha in January created an exception for Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains, Parsis and Christians from Afghanistan, Bangladesh and Pakistan, with regard to this qualification. For these groups of persons, the 11 years’ requirement was reduced to 6 years.
